P. Oxy. XVI 1979 desc. Deed of surety

The Journal of Juristic Papyrology

Vol. XXXII (2002), pp. 29-34

Nikolaos Gonis

P. OXY. X V I 1979 DESC.

D E E D OF SURETY

T

HE PAPYRUS WAS DESCRIBED IN VOLUME XVI of The

Oxyrhyn-chus Papyri in the following fashion: "A nearly complete undertaking

on oath addressed to Flavius Apion (III; ...) by a γεωργός to act as surety

that Aur. Victor, a φύλαξ, would remain on his holding. The formula is

practically identical with that of P.S.I. 61-2; cf. also 135 (W 384), 996, P.

Brit. Mus. 778 (iii, p. 279), P.S.I. 52, 180. (...) On the verso some remains of

the title."

The description was accompanied by transcripts of lines 1-11 and 23-26.

For the sake of completeness, a full edition is presented below.

P. Oxy. XVI 1979 is one of the few deeds of surety addressed to the

Apions in which the person under surety is not an εναπόγραφοζ γεωργόс.2

A parallel is P. Oxy. I 199 =P. Lond. Ill 778 (568), which concerns a

field-guard (άγροφύλαξ).

The Oxyrhynchite deeds of surety have received extensive commentary

by Itzhak F. Fikhman on several occasions.

A comprehensive study of this

1 Minor differences from ed.pr. (e.g. in the supply of brackets and sublinear dots) will not be signalled in the notes.

2 Cf. G. BASTIANINI, "Una malleveria dall'archivio degli Apioni", [in:] R. PLNTAUDL (ed.), Miscellanea Papyrologica (= Pap. Flor. 7), Firenze 1980, p. 25 n. 3.

3 In Russian and French; I mention only those in French: "Une caution byzantine pour des coloni adscripticii·. P. Oxy. V I 996", [in:] Miscellanea Papyrologica (cit. п. г), pp. 67-77; "Les cautionnements pour les coloni adscripticii', [in:] Proceedings of the XVI International Congress of

30 NIKOLAOS GONIS

documentary genre by Bernhard Palme

Gestellungsbürgschaften) is due to appear shortly.

P. Oxy.

XVI 1979

•Dsap 6Ζ,6 ι ι λχ ICXQ и

Р. ОХГ. XVI 1979 DESC. DEED OF SURETY

31

In the паше of the lord and master Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour.

In the reign of our most pious master, greatest benefactor, Flavius Heraclius, the

eternal Augustus and Imperator, year

4, Mesore 26, indiction 2.

To Flavius Apion, the renowned patrician, landowner here also in the splendid city

of the Oxyrhynchites, through Menas, oiketes, asking the formal question and

supplying for his own master, the said man, the conduct of and responsibility for

(the transaction). I, Aurelius Makaris, son of Menas, mother Manna, from

Me-galou Eirenarcheiou of the Oxyrhynchite nome, a possession belonging to your

extraordinariness, registered farmer of your extraordinariness, greeting. I

ac-knowledge by willing resolve and voluntary choice, swearing the divine and august

oath, that I guarantee and receive from your extraordinariness Aurelius Victor,

guard, son of Matthias, mother ..., from the same settlement, himself too a

registe-red farmer, upon condition that he shall remain continuously and abide in the

same estate, and if he is required of me I shall bring him forward and hand him

over without cavil in the place where I have received him, in the prison of your

glo-rious house. If I do not do this, I acknowledge myself accountable to answer for all

that is required of him. This deed of surety, written in a single copy, is binding,

and in reply to the formal question I gave my assent.

We, the collective body of persons — this deed of surety satisfies us as aforesaid. I,

Markos, wrote on his behalf as he is illiterate.

Through me ... the completion was made.

4. [δ]: [y] ed.pr. See BL VIII

252. The correction was made so that the regnal

year could match the indiction.

5. On Flavius Apion III see J. Gascou, "Les grands domaines, la cité et l'état en

32 NIKOLAOS GONIS

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. I I I A , Cambridge 1992, pp. 98-99 (Fl. Apion 4); J. R. Rea, P. Oxy. L V I I I 3939.4-5 n. (titulature), 3959 introd. (death; but note that SPP III 86 does not refer to Fl. Apion III, but probably to Fl. Apion II); B. Palme, "Strategios Paneuphemos und die Apionen", ZSS RA 115 (1998), pp. 307-308.

[τώ παν€υφ(τιμα>)]. For the restoration see P. Oxy. L V I I I 3939.4-5 n. (= BL X 145)·

6-8. δια ... ενοχή v. O n the clause see P. Oxy. L X V I I 4616.4-6 n. with references. 6. Μηνά. O n Menas see P. Oxy. L V I I I 3935.7 п., L X V I I 4616.4 п.

8-9. Aurelius Makaris was probably a brother of Aurelius Georgios, son o f Menas and Manna, w h o submitted P. Oxy. X V I 1991 (601, cf. BL V I I I 252), a receipt for replacement parts of a water-wheel; both were tenant farmers, but Geor-gios is in the service o f StrateGeor-gios Paneuphemos, while Makaris serves the main branch of the Apion family.

9. Μεγάλ(ου) ΕΙρηναρχίου (1. -itou). This settlement is also attested in P. Oxy. I 141 (= SPP V I I I 1155X5 (503) and X V I 2012.2 (590); in these two texts it occurs with villages known to have been situated in the northern part o f the Oxy-rhynchite region, so that Μεγάλου Είρηναρχείου was probably a northern lo-cality too.

T h e name o f the settlement seems to suggest the presence o f a police station in the area. This would suit the fact that P. Oxy. 1979 associates the settle-ment with a φύλαξ, and especially the context in P. Oxy. 141.4-5, which refers to roic άγροφύλαξ(ή τοΰ Μεγάλου \ Είρηναρχείου φυλάττουε(ι) το αντιπελ 0· άντιπερ(α) ?).4

In P. Oxy. I 141 Μεγάλου Είρηναρχείου appears to be part o f an area con-trolled by Ioannes, comes (the dossier of this person is discussed in P. Oxy. L X V I I I [forthcoming]); this Ioannes is not known to have been related to the Apion family. P. Oxy. 2012 indicates that by the later sixth century the settlement had passed to the control of the Apions. For other examples o f properties that passed from one estate to the other in the course o f the sixth century, see P. Oxy. L X V I I 4615.7 n.

11. εναπόγραφο[ε αύτ\ηε γεωργόε. T h e literature on εναπόγραφοι γεωργοί is growing constantly. O f the more recent publications, I single out: I. F. Fikh-man, "Esclaves et colons en Egypte byzantine", АпРар 3 (1991), pp. 7-17; J- Ba-naji, "Lavoratori liberi e resistenza coatta: il colonato romano in perspettiva

4 I am baffled by το αντιπελ, but pace D. BONNEAU, *Άγροφύλαξ (agrophylax)", [in:] Proceedings of the XVIII International Congress ofPapyrology, vol. II, Athens 1988) 308, I doubt that it refers to a location opposite Pela: Pela does not lie in the proximity of any of the other locations attested in P. Oxy. 1141.

Р. ΟΧΤ. XVI 1979 DESC. DEED OF SURETY 33 storica" [in:] E. Lo Cascio (ed.), Terre, proprietari e contadini del'impero romano. Dalfaffitto agrario al colonato tardoantico, Roma 1997, pp. 253-80; idem, "Agra-rian History and the Labour Organisation of Byzantine Large Estates" [in:] A . K . Bowman & E. Rogan (eds.), Apiculture in Egypt from Pharaonic to Modern Times (= РВА 96), O x f o r d 1999, pp. 193-216; idem, Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity. Gold, Labour and Aristocratic Dominance, Oxford 2001, pp. 97-100, 135, 206-12.

12. €πωμνύμ€(νοс). A n orthographic variant o f ίττομνύμενοε, present in several Oxyrhynchite deeds of surety. (Inspection of the original shows that P. Oxy. X X I V 2420.10 (614, cf. BL X 148) does not to have the exceptional ύπομνύ-μΐνοί, but Ιπωμνύμίνοί!)

14. παρά ττ) ύμε[τ]€[ρα ύπερφυΐία]. For the construction see P. Turner 54.2-3 η. φύλακα. (Cf. above, 9 η. para. 2.) Other Oxyrhynchite documents of this pe-riod attesting φύλακα are P. Oxy. X V I 1858.2 and 2056.5, 7, 8, 11 (but note that the editors' resolution φυλακ(ίτηή introduces a term not used at that time). It is doubtful whether they were αγροφύλακα (on w h o m see Bonneau, {cit. η. 4}, pp. 303-315); a large estate would have required guards of various kinds.

15. μηr(póc) J e o v o i j c . N o known name is suggested.

16. και αυτόν 4ν[απόγραφον]. C f . (P. Oxy. I 199 =) P. Lond. I I I 778.14 (568), P. Heid. III 248.4-5 (VI/VII).

18. ίπιζητούμε(νον). For the verb and its use in similar contexts see CPR X X I I 4.14 n.

77/э<э[с е'/л]е. Before this prepositional construction Oxyrhynchite deeds o f surety usually have αυτόν or the like. A possible parallel to the omission of αυτόν may be found in P. Oxy. L V I I I 3959.19-20 (620), where the edition prints €77ίζητ[ού]με(νον) | [αυτόν πα]ραφέρω·, the length o f the break sug-gests that π póc i με may be preferred to αυτόν.

19. δίχα λόγου. See Fikhman, Pap. Flor. V I I p. 75 (η. 1. 17), and now CPR X X I I 4.17-18 п., with a full citation of earlier literature.

20. φυλακή. For references see Fikhman, loc. cit. 76 (п. 11. 17-18), and CPR X X I I 4.17-18 n.

Given the nature of his duties, things could well go wrong for a guard. Im-prisoned guards are mentioned in P. Oxy. 2056.5, 7, 8,11 (VII); their eventual release may have been combined with a deed of surety such as P. Oxy. 1979. A good illustration o f thie pitfalls of the function is provided by P. Gron. Amst. 1 (re-ed. K . A . W o r p , APF 42 [1996], pp. 235-242), a petition to a riparius o f Oxyrhynchus dated to 455, in which the petitioner reports on an incursion of г gang of criminals on his landed property and asks: TOVC 8i ύπευθύνουε

φύλα-34 NIKOLAOS GONIS

кас I των τόπων ... άνενΐχθήναι \ και èv τώ асфаХеΐ καταίτηςαι (11. 12-14)·

There are several texts attesting similar circumstances affecting

άγροφύλα-кес, see Bonneau, (cit. η. 4), p. 313.

23. то κοιν(ον) των όνομ(άτων). For a brief discussion of this phrase see P. Oxy.

LXVI 4536.32-3 n. (to the examples given there add P. Oxy. LXII 4351.17, of

the later sixth century).

26. The reading of the notarial signature causes considerable difficulty, and I

have preferred not to print any name. In ed.pr. the name of the notary is read

as .. senu , and receives the following comment: 'There is no evident change of

hand in 1. 23, but in 1. 26 Marcu seems inadmissible, for though си could well

be read instead of en, and the first two letters may be ma, the third is not in

the least like r.'J. M. Diethart and K. A. Worp, Notarsunterschriften im

byzan-tinischen Ägypten, Wien 1986, p. 83 (Oxy. 12.1.1, reproduced in Taf. 44), read

the signature as di em[u M]arcu aWeliothh, and note: "U. E. besteht kaum ein

Unterschied zwischen der Schrift des Notars und der des Hypographeus;

-r-vor -cu sehr schwierig". As for the verb, et is beyond doubt, but after that and

before el there seems to be one extra letter that I cannot explain, unless it

has been corrected.

Niko/aos Gonis

Wolfson College

Oxford OX2 6UD

UNITED KINGDOM